Make Good On Warning

Our Towns

Burlington, Bristol

February 25, 2004

Burlington taxpayers should cross their fingers and hope that town officials really mean it this time when they say they will take the Bristol Water Department to court if it doesn't soon resolve a dispute about an overdue property tax bill and penalties.

Residents have been down this road before. Exactly a year ago, Burlington selectmen authorized Town Attorney Charles Bauer to file a tax foreclosure action against the utility on 700 acres of reservoir and surrounding woodlands that it owns in the southern end of town.

Burlington never followed through on its threat and it got nothing.

The stakes are higher this time. Burlington bills the water utility about $50,000 a year in taxes. What started out as an unpaid $102,000 tax bill in 2001 has ballooned to $288,000.

The dispute began when Bristol's water superintendent, Leonard Valentino, decided to stop paying taxes, citing a state law that exempts municipal water utilities from paying property taxes in communities where they sell water. Mr. Valentino based his decision on the city's sale of water to 17 homes in Burlington.

But Burlington First Selectman Ted Scheidel maintains that the law doesn't apply because the town has no formal agreement with the utility to supply water. The homes, he says, were hooked up on a one-time-only basis to remedy an emergency, not as part of a contract.

Mr. Scheidel refused to discuss the nature or frequency of the talks, except to say, ``We've met.'' He also won't say what type of legal action the town would pursue if the negotiations fail.

On the face of it, the utility's attempt to squirm out of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes on the basis of 17 homes seems grossly unfair. A court case could produce a settlement. It may also yield nothing.

But taxpayers will never know unless Burlington officials are prepared to take the risk.